At times you don’t realise what players give to the team until they aren’t there - and that was certainly the case a week ago up at Middlesbrough.

I spoke about Grant Hanley’s leadership qualities in last week's column and boy how they could have done with him at the Riverside.

The Pink Un: Grant Hanley - leading by example Grant Hanley - leading by example (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Grant’s had his critics at times this season and last, but I don’t care what anyone says, if he’d been playing last Friday, Norwich wouldn't have conceded five against Michael Carrick’s men. It stood out like a hole in the head that Norwich lacked an organiser and a communicator and that's what Grant’s invaluable experience brings to the team.

While Middlesbrough were putting five past Norwich, 24 hours later, just down the A140, Ipswich were smashing six past Charlton, which meant they’ve won 28 points from their last 10 games, include their comeback win on Tuesday night at home to Port Vale - that's 31 points won from a possible 33.

It's a great run from Kieran McKenna”s men which has taken them to second in League One with four games to go, but it’s ever so tight between themselves, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday for the two automatic promotion places, with just two points separating the three teams.

Portman Road seems a happy place once again after a good few years of frustration and disappointments - it certainly looks as if the good old East Anglian derby will be back next season.

McKenna has come in and done a fantastic job; he’s lost only 12 of his 75 games in charge and has a 57.7pc win rate, which is excellent. He’s a young coach with fresh ideas who’s worked at twp of the biggest clubs in the Premier League with top players.

I look at what Ipswich have done in the last two or three transfer windows and they’ve done some excellent business. They’ve got rid of the dead wood who had overstayed their welcome at the club and helped taken the club to League One. Sometimes things get a bit stale for players. They get into a comfort zone and need to be moved on.

McKenna’s brought in younger, hungrier players who have all bought into his philosophy and there's a complete freshness about the place once again. At the end of the day, it's all about coaching and recruitment and Ipswich have got those two things spot on in the last 18 months.

Talking of young head coaches, Russell Martin brings his rejuvenated Swansea to Carrow Road on Saturday. I’m sure he and his assistant Matt Gill will be really looking forward to this one!

It’s been a topsy turvy season for Russ, after finishing 15th last season. Swansea won just one of their opening seven games, then they won seven of their next nine, which propelled the Swans into the play-off positions. They then won just three of their next 21 games - they lost seven in nine in that poor run and went from promotion hopefuls to sitting just above the bottom three. However, they’ve now won 16 points from their last six games and are just five points from the play-off positions.

On their day, Russ’s team are a joy to watch, they can be good as any team in this league, but they’ve been far too inconsistent. They’ve scored plenty - they're the Championship's joint fourth highest scores with Sunderland - but they’ve leaked far too many. Before their win against Bristol City, only QPR and Wigan had conceded more than Swansea. As it stands, they’ve now improved slightly. Mind you, only the bottom four clubs have conceded more goals than them.

I get the feeling that a point against fourth from bottom on Wednesday wasn’t good enough for Norwich. Going into the game, QPR had won just one of their previous seven games, they’d lost 10 of their last 12. 

I guess it's a better point for Norwich as it keeps them within two points of the play-off positions, but it makes the game against Swansea a must-win and, as I’ve pointed out a bit earlier, it promises to be one tough game for Norwich as the Swans are flying.